Chespol beat a large field that included Chemutai with a new championship in Tampere, Finland on Friday night as she again cruised to gold in 9:12.78.

With that feat, the Kenyan became the first athlete to successfully defend her world U20 title.

A large group passed 1000m in a pedestrian 3:16.90, with Ugandan challenger Peruth Chemutai on the outside of the pack and Chespol on her shoulder.

Chespol surged to the front with three laps to go and cranked the pace up further as she clicked through 2000m in 6:15.04 and Chemutai along with Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi who were behind her could only settle for silver and bronze respectively.

Chemutai crossed in 9:18.87, while Yavi crossed in 9:23.47.

“This means a lot to me and for my country,” said Chemutai as quoted by iaaf.org. “I didn’t have any tactics going into the race but it was a very tough race. It feels great to win silver.”

Kenya’s Mercy Chepkirui was a distant fourth in 9:43.65, with Agrie Belachew leading the Ethiopian duo home in fifth.